Pant-like absorbent garments, such as adult incontinence wear, infant and children's diapers, swim wear and training pants, typically have some degree of stretchability in order to conform to a wearer's body. Present diapers, for example, have stretchable side panels with non-stretchable outer covers, bodyside liners and absorbent assemblies. When this type of diaper is worn, only the side panels stretch.
Different portions of a diaper have different stresses imposed by the size and movements of the infant. Some conventional diapers do not allow these stresses to be relieved except by degradation of fit, and where the stresses are not relieved by fit degradation, discomfort and red-marking of skin can result. When fit is degraded, leakage protection provided by the diaper is also degraded. When such conventional diapers degrade with wear time, the side panels narrow, concentrating force along the sides at the fastening region of the diaper. The high force load on the fastening region often leads to fastener failure or red marking and discomfort.
Some conventional diapers are difficult to apply as a result of their inability to adapt to the differences in infant shapes. Further difficulty may be encountered by a conventional diaper's tendency to fold back on itself or curl up before application to an infant. Furthermore, many conventional diapers do not hold the target area portions of the liner and absorbent close to the body, thus giving bodily wastes time to spread across the skin before being absorbed by the diaper.
There is a need or desire for form-fitting, pant-like, personal care absorbent garments that disperse forces in the side panels to prevent narrowing of the side panels.
There is a further need or desire for form-fitting, pant-like, personal care absorbent garments that conform to a wearer's body without restricting the wearer's movement.
There is yet another need or desire for form-fitting, pant-like, personal care absorbent garments that are easy to apply to a wearer's body.
There is still another need or desire for form-fitting, pant-like, personal care absorbent garments that are adapted to fit a wide range of sizes.
There is a further need or desire for form-fitting, pant-like, personal care absorbent garments that intercept bodily wastes before the waste has an opportunity to spread on the skin.